


The Valiant illusion

by Akheloispione



Series: History's small cuttings with its large axe [2]
Category: Guild Wars 2 (Video Game), Guild Wars Series (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-20 15:19:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17624852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akheloispione/pseuds/Akheloispione
Summary: Raëndaxia is a sylvari mesmer. As soon as she was born, the world in her eyes was disillusioned. She is convinced that she lives in a factitious world where false pretenses and betrayal reign.Yet the only truth she believes in is the love she has for Trahearne. It may be the solution and the only possible salvation for her. But...





	1. Utopia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy !  
>  _« Love is a rose ; each petal an illusion, each thorn a reality. »_ (Charles BEAUDELAIRE)

> Universe : History's small cuttings with its large axe ([fr] Petites coupes de l’Histoire avec sa grande hache)  
>  Part 2 : The Valiant Illusion ([fr] La Vaillante Illusion)  
>  Chapter 1 : Utopia ([fr] Utopie)

  


**I am sylvari.**

Oh, really ? No kidding ?! We're not joking ? Ah ! Only our race can remember who we are. A sweet symphony that we try to keep in mind as if we didn't want to hear the other melodies. Am I convincing myself that I'm not something else ? But what else could I be to the point of repeating to myself, like a mantra, that I am Sylvari ?  
 _You're so confident, but does Mother lie to you ?_  


  
**Twenty-five years ago, my people first appeared in Tyria.  
The Pale Tree flowered, and the firstborn awakened.**

A distant time to which I don’t belong ; a time I haven’t lived. I have none of his experience. I'm not from his generation. Not from his world.  
 _Is there any hope of being part of your dream ?_  


  
**The Dream contains my race's memories.  
We gain awareness here and then awaken into the world.**

It's the one who frees me and shackles me. It allowed me to meet you and understand that you are inaccessible. Your memory forged me through the Dream of Dreams. But like an illusion, your memories are only a copy of reality and the world.  
 _Is your true nature my disappointment ?_  


  
**The Dream fills me with knowledge and is my connection to others.**

The knowledge of others isn’t mine and would be deluded to believe that we are connected to others. I've never met them how could I claim to know them ? You too, you are only part of a deceitful dream.  
 _How can you say otherwise ?_  


  
**It is my inspiration.  
My guiding light.**

Do I have a choice ? I am forced to have a light or I am allowed to sink into darkness.  
And you, you're my only inspiration, even if it's just a miraculous fantasy.  
 _Will you help me when I've lost everything ?_  


  
**While here, I have discovered my purpose : to face evil and destroy it.  
Even now, I sense my destiny calling me to awaken.**

Handling. And I can't resist the call. The images of my future scroll, fuzzy and blurry ; false such your smiles. I have no choice then why am I being called to this mission broken by duality ?  
A force, a sign that pushes me into its prestidigitation. This magic permeates my being with everything I hate : lies, betrayal, falsehood.  
 _Will you like me even corrupted ?_  


  
**My time is soon.**

I have no control over the events of my own life. My unique consolation ; I'm finally confronting reality. It's time to face my illusion.  
 _Are you following the same race of time as me ?_  


  
**Nature and goodness are under siege.  
All life hangs in the balance.**

We believe it is the definition of the world, torn between these two poles. But we invented these ridiculous concepts and we made them become a normality.  
 _Do I live in banality to be at your side ?_  


  
**If Tyria is to survive, it will need us.**

Tyria will continue to exist even if we disappear. To live, she doesn't need us. So to survive…  
 _And will you accept my help that I offer you ?_  


  
**If we fail, the Dream will be consumed by nightmare, and Tyria will wither and die.**

« We » ? If there are several, whether or not I participate will not make a difference. Let the Dream sink into the grip of the Nightmare, so that it may understand what it is like to be at the end of a string. To be broken after the end of our role.  
 _Will you forgive me ?_  


  
**I dream of voyages.**

I see so many things, I want to explore everything. Discover every corner of the world that is hidden from us, every inhabitant and every way of being.  
 _Did you also understand the importance of the word "other" ?_  


  
**The voices of my people whisper to me of far-off places and mysterious shores.**

Mysteries rock my dream. Will I discover the key to their terrible secrets ? Would I find the meaning of my life ?  
 _Would I find you ?_  


  
**A white stag races before me, brave and wild, it offers me the gift of freedom.**

The deer gambols drunk with a life I would never have and suddenly he disappears into his purity. He is ready to do anything to stay free. He would even exchange a wish. Will he offer me freedom ?  
 _Does it bother you if you're my wish ?_  


  
**The Dream hints at my future.**

Once again, we are programmed like automatons. This way, around here, around there. Do as if, do it like that, pretend.  
 _Do you accept that the Dream takes us away ?_  


  
**There are distant lands and dangerous challenges, but also, I see my home.  
A grove with a white tree, and friends who will stand by me when I need them.**

This misleading house shines with a fake glow. I live here only to see you. My house is where you are. Your face is the only one that gives me all the qualities of a house will never offer me. I just want you to be by my side and I want to be able to look at your beautiful face. These appearing faces are imposed on me. They will break sooner or later. I see them, but they don't matter.  
 _Why aren't you in this group ?_  


  
**And yet, I sense darkness approaching.  
Something intrudes upon the Dream.**

They envelop me and see through my illusions. Am I the target ? Brambles are chaining my precious deer ! Someone's running in front of me. No, he's running away. Does darkness frighten him ?  
-Recall-  
No, he's fleeing from the Dream.  
-Precognition-  
He smiles at me.  
-Diversion-  
He grabbed my hand and dragged me with him. He looks a lot like me. The features of his face, the foliage on his head, the shape of his luminescent pattern.   
_Sibling ?_

I hear cries of distress. Dreamers are attacked by Nightmare Hound. But the enemies don't attack us. No. They answer us. They answers him. Did he call them ? My brother is a Nightmare Court’s member.  
-Doubt-  
I let go of his hand.  
-Illusion-  
He looks at me, crazy but free.  
-Frustration-  
The earth is shaking behind him. A form gushes from the ground. A dragon ! A made dragon parts of the jungle. He's calling me. He wants to control me !  
No ; I will not give him my freedom.  
In a shadowstep, Saorleach disappears like my illusions. All that remains is the shadow of the dragon where vines, deformed and terrifying sylvari forms, and thorn wolves twist.

I'm into a nightmare in the Dream of Dreams. This time, I'll going out of this drowsy state !  
_Will you sleep with me ?_  


  
**It blocks the path to my awakening.**

I don't care about the darkness. But if I have to protect the Dream to preserve the little freedom it gives me, then I would listen to our Mother’s voice. I would become a slave to her words to keep my freedom. I'll chain myself to her links.  
 _Will you be satisfied with me in front of my hypocrisy ?_  


  
**Before I can enter the world, I must first face this evil—and vanquish it.**

Good|Evil. Notions of that human Ronan and the centaur Ventari.  
If only defeating evil was enough to bring peace. In their flawed logic, if I let peace triumph then the balance will be upset… broken. Then there will be no choice and I will be trapped in a fate where my path is a one-way and one-sided.  
But I want to get out of this unrealistic world. Although against my principles, I accept this mission with my full will as long as I have my reward.  
 _I’ll be with you soon, are you expect me ?_  


  
**I am summoned by the Dream.**

Puppet. Doll. Dummy. I'm caught up in a game where you have to follow the rules. A play whose script is already written, for a long time.  
We made the choice for me. Again. Am I destined to follow a chimera, alone ?  
 _How do you not suffocate ?_  


  
**This is my story.**

The one of a poor sylvari who put on a mask to accomplish a utopia.  
But I don't have anything else, so I'm fall to get into the game.  
With my grace, no one can resist me ; I know just what to say to lighten the mood or bolster courage.  
The truth I hide it from everyone behind my phantasm of sorrow.  
On my face, I show the world a face lined by tragedy. Too bad, you can't see behind the mask… to know whether I'm secretly laughing or not of this paradoxical existence.

My name is Raëndaxia, the sylvari of 1325 A.E's generation.  
Born in the Cycle of Dusk, having missed the Cycle of Noon to see my Great Hunt, I am a mesmer. My twin brother left without me, far from me like the white stag that is moving away. I have to catch them before anything misfortune happens. Maybe mine ?  
But everything in time ; all things have a right to grow. I would be patient because I have no other choice. My choices may already be a form of prison. An illusion of hope.

Freedom will be granted to me through access to the real truth. So wait for me...  
_I'm getting closer...._  
_Trahearne._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > I don't own anything ; All the characters belong to ArenaNet except Raëndaxia (Original female sylvari Character) and Saorleach (Original male sylvari Character).
> 
>   
> *sigh*  
> It's very hard to make a character so tired of the world that he hasn't yet experienced and to make him passionate about love. A character ready for anything to be the one who's always right, who distorts reality to make it look like what she believes.  
> I hope this chapter is an acceptable result. 


	2. Flow of time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠ WARNING : Spoilers ⚠  
> * Personal Story (after Victory or Death)  
> * Heart of Thorns (after Hearts and Minds)  
> * Season 4 - Episode 4 (Chaos Theory)  
> * Season 4 - Episode 5 (The Crystal Dragon)  
> 

> Universe : History's small cuttings with its large axe ([fr] Petites coupes de l’Histoire avec sa grande hache)  
>  Part 2 : The Valiant Illusion ([fr] La Vaillante Illusion)  
>  Chapter 2 : Flow of time ([fr] Flux du temps)

  


**> (1332 A.E.) During the confrontation against Kralkatorrik ; Thunderhead Keep.**

When death approaches, it seems that life appears. The life we've had, passes before our empty eyes. Or at least, the most important, most significant events occur in no chronological order.

Twice, Raëndaxia had experienced death. And this time it was the second time.  
Kralkatorrik opened his eyes. Did he pretend to be dead ? He stood in front of the sylvari and his mouth charged a powerful attack. Faced with all this magic, Raën was so small, so weak. She stumbles backwards. Even if Aurene intervened, there was no way she could get away with it.  
A purple spot that she couldn’t control darkens her vision little by little.  
And she didn't think about her comrades, about the world she was going to leave once again. No, once again, selfishly, she thought of the only person who was her world : her beloved Trahearne. _I'm finally going to join you, my sweetheart._

 

Since his death, the illusionist's world had collapsed. And reality itself, in these times, could no longer anchor it in a tangible universe. Reality was distorted by the Elder Crystal Dragon.  
If reality were a machine, the gears would turn in a vacuum and the wheels would be blocked in an endless advance and retreat. From now on, in this war, the past and the present merge and the future parade in all directions and in all places.  
A piece of Maguuma was now in the middle of Jahai Bluffs. The war between Ascalon’s charrs and Orr’s humans was still raging, forever. And Raën could even influence the success or defeat of one of the two sides.

The sylvari's brain made associations that her heart didn’t want.  
War. Orr. Trahearne.  
_Oh, and that's it, it’s all coming back to him._  
« And I will chase it back to you. »  
The last verse of Trahearne's favorite poem. The last verse he never knew. The one that disappeared in the fall of Orr.

  


**> (1325 A.E.) After the death of Zhaitan ; The Source of Orr.**

The flowers bloomed, ever more beautiful and ever farther in the ravaged Orrian lands. It was the result of the completion of Trahearne's Wyld Hunt.  
According to information from many Pact soldiers interviewed, the firstborn had returned to the place of his personal fulfillment. And he was. His voice resounded but the words didn’t correctly reach the understanding of the mesmer. He stood in front of his work, with his feet in the Artesian Waters, in the center of this ancient room with its tree-covered walls.

 

The mesmer entered the room with gentleness and delicacy ; the folds of winged pants slid like a soft caress, her fine creepers with light peach petals of her hair flicked.  
The rustle of butterfly wings caught the attention of the elder accustomed to the mild sound. The sound of the ephemeral beauty, so beautiful and fragile that illuminated the life of the necromancer. And if the noise were to disappear, it would give him death. He was afraid he wouldn't hear it again.

He turned around to erase his fears and contemplate the incredible miracle in the middle of this desolate place slowly reborn. Her bright colors of blue and pink contrasted with the old architecture.  
He smiled lovingly at her before approaching her and his lips avidly brushed against Raën's before deepening the kiss. He possessively brings her closer in his embrace ; his hand on her back maintained her. His other hand held her upper limb firmly.  
She was having trouble holding on her legs so she leaned her hands on his shoulders. He hugged her tightly, but without violence, as if she could disappear immediately, could disappear with a snap of fingers like her illusions.  
She took off slightly from the ground, her toes barely resting on the ground. But she doesn't say anything ; for fear that he might be able to keep him away. She compensated by a strong grip on his shoulders. The heat wraps around the body. Their actions to hold each other back gave the embrace a torrid aspect. Each fighting against the other. Each fighting for the other. The rubbing of their bodies, so that they would be in the most comfortable position, one against the other, was almost to make them one and only person. Become one.

Trahearne wondered what was holding him back from laying down his tender in the sacred Arah’s holy water and taking her. To take her while the water ran down her lichen skin, to take her fully after taking off her ridiculously seductive clothes -the imagination had no place, everything was there, in plain sight.

 

Then finally, panting, Raëndaxia backed away from the kiss to look for air, but stayed within the perimeter of this heat. She laid her bright eyes on those of her eldest brother. They contemplated each other for a long time, looking carefully at each other's beloved details. Once they had calmed down, once calm, just face to face, Trahearne asked :  
« I love having you by my side but... what are you doing here ? Aren't you supposed to be resting in Fort Trinity ? » He passed a lock of her flowers behind her ear.  
« I was bored and then... the bed without you is cold, even during the day. » The mischief took shape on her mouth. He laughs softly. « I heard you talking before I entered the room. May I ask which ghost had the honor of having a conversation with my shy Trahearne ? »  
« Your ? » He pressed his forefinger on the tip of her nose and tapped it gently. « You're getting quite possessive, my dear. » She smiled at him and replied, walking away from him and walking along the edge of the spring like a child.  
« And you, you're becoming very enterprising. » His luminescence intensified like a human blush.

Since he knew her, she had turned his life upside down. She had introduced him to discover new aspects of himself. She had exposed him, faced with his deepest, most secret desires and his envy that he had repressed. That sexual attraction he had hidden in him. And the Dream knew how excited he was. And not a little. It was almost a talent at that point.  
« Trahearne. » Her honeyed voice echoes « You still haven't answered my question. » Her lips stretched with satisfaction. She had control of the conversation... over him.  
« Well... somehow... I was singing... » A laugh escaped from Raën.

 

She stood a little high on the edge of the spring, her eyes glistening with purple magic, her hair floating and waving weakly. He was there, in front of the mesmer and he felt like a child in front of his mother, like a prey in front of his alpha.  
« So... can I ask you the name of that song you were playing, somehow ? » Her head bowed to her left shoulder. He couldn't escape. No matter how powerful, Trahearne couldn't do anything. He had found someone in this world like him, more so. Then he answered naturally:  
« More precisely, it’s a poem I was reciting. »  
He inhaled and with a harmonious and light breath, he said carefully :  
« Darkness pays Orr a visit.  
With billowing robes of blackened silk,  
She beckons us, arms outstretched.  
I see my brothers walk forward, greet her as a friend.  
So many fold themselves into her embrace.  
And even over their cries, and the roars of the beasts.  
I hear Darkness call to me with a promise.  
But I close myself. I will not join her yet.  
Another call is more beautiful… »

 

He stopped and Raëndaxia's first comment was :  
« That’s all ? » She looked at him with perplexity « It ends like that ? » Trahearne stared at her.  
Inside, he shone. There was no mistake possible : he loved her.  
She felt that something was missing, the detail that would change everything. Trahearne marveled. This intelligence, this way of seeing and feeling things had charmed the firstborn. He was ready to forget her haughty air, this outrageous predatory superiority.  
« No, indeed. The last verse was lost when Orr sank. As it was written by an anonymous Orrian soldier, the poem didn’t last in time in its entirety but it’s one of the few legible documents from before the Cataclysm. »  
Raën wondered « Do you like this poem ? »  
« It's my favorite poem. » She froze.  
She knew that Trahearne was a talented necromancer but to the point of loving a poem about death, isn't that extreme ? The poem also had for meaning, in her ears, the cry of a soldier who will not resign himself, who will be determined by duty, who will generate more conflict. Nationalism will not allow him to resign himself. How could Trahearne love a poem about gratuitous and wanton slaughter and desolation ?  
This poem disturbed her. It seemed to carry dark messages.

 

« Raën… » There was a hint of concern and worry from the necromancer. The misunderstanding of the mesmer had given way to silence. « Something disturbs you? »  
« No, no, not at all. » She raised her hands as if to defend herself.  
The plants attracted her attention again. He had seen his beloved's body language say the opposite of what she wanted, then he waited.  
She could feel Trahearne's expectation, right behind her back. With him, illusions never lasted long and always dissipated. Raëndaxia's powerful control collapsed and then vanished at the mere presence of her elder. With her elder, the lies had no hold on him. At the sight of all, butterflies danced in the mauve arches, moving around purple sparks.

She sighed. Each of her battles against Trahearne was always a victory for him.  
« How can you appreciate a poem with this kind of theme? »  
« Kind of theme ? » His body language followed his words : head tilted to the side, eyebrow raised in questioning.  
It was now she who felt embarrassed. How did explain it to him without hurting him ?

It was difficult, but she had promised not to hide anything from him, again. But even if it was her true nature, she resigned herself out of love. For her love.

« I find it a little strange that-- » Her frail and hesitant voice was noticed by Trahearne's crossing arms ; his suspicious air waited patiently. She abandoned all defense. She gave up completely, « Okay. Fine. All right… I find it totally unhealthy to have as a favorite poem a poem where the main themes are so... so violent ! » The outrage in her words mingled with her sharp frankness made her long hair with petals shiver.  
« The main themes seem to be violent. »

Trahearne closed the distance between him and her, with confidence and lightness. The idyllic setting had not yet been found. Yet he was convinced that the environment around him always became bucolic when he wasn’t alone ; especially when he was with Raëndaxia.  
That verse, which had never been found, didn't have importance. Trahearne was sure that the end didn't matter. As long as he was with Raën, it didn't matter.

He walked towards her, slowly sliding his hands over the pearly blue fabric on the back of her thighs. Then he lifted her up. Her eyes widened at the sudden rise in height. She put her hands on the sides of his face, enjoying the view. Her weight was insignificant, as light as a feather, as airy as a butterfly in the wind of time.  
« We suppose that the themes of this poem are war and other aggressive subjects. But these are just suppositions. The real theme will reveal itself with the last line. In the meantime, we can only make deductions. »  
The scholarly answer still didn’t satisfy the strange dreamer. « I see… »  
He plunged his face into the crook of her neck. He inhaled her intoxicating and strong smell of jasmine winding with eucalyptus, with a sprig of physalis and bugloss. His head was spinning slowly.

« If I like this poem, it's because I find a strong message that isn’t related to brutality, don't worry. I sincerely hope it has had a much more beautiful meaning than what everyone thinks it has. For me, it has a meaning that evokes something personal. »  
Her hand slipped through the leaves that formed his hair. It was soothing « Surprisingly, it took on a new meaning in your presence. »  
His eyes twinkled with sacred gold « I aspire to a meaning that speaks to everyone. Which is unique to each of us. »  
  
There was no more space between them.  
« What is yours ? » She whispered in his ear.  
And in reply, he took his beloved in his arms and kissed her with fiery, keen and ardent passion. While she slipped her legs behind his back, Trahearne thought that this ridiculously useless outfit worn by his lover should disappear.

  


**> (1331 A.E.) During an anomaly of chaos theory ; Displaced Towers.**

Raën appeared clearly once the fight was over and the clones dissipated.  
She removed the dust from her outfit « Okay, fight's over. Now what ? »  
The transmitter sizzled « Just...watch for a second and tell me what happens. »  
The sylvari didn't have to wait long. Charrs and humans she had just killed reappeared and rushed towards each other again. _This world is really falling apart ! This is bullshit !_  
She almost choked herself when she saw the scene « Taimi, the whole battle just...resets. Over and over. It's like I never did anything at all. »  
And everything seemed normal for the young asura.  
« That's what I thought. You're in some kind of echo of the past. Yeah-- Like a recording that can't stop replaying itself. »  
Taimi's voice stopped in its tracks. Her brain had clicked.  
« Let's see... Oh ! If you're near the vizier's tower, there should be another tower north of it. » She breathes deeply. It seems she has found a holy relic. « Climb maybe halfway up, and you'll see a tablet. I want you to read it for me. Sounds silly, but go with me here... »

 

Raën headed north.  
Obviously, the tower didn't have a staircase. Nothing could be simple.  
She closed her eyes and concentrated on creating an illusion on the heights and then swapped places with it. An inner feeling struck her with the strength of a paper sheet on her heart. She didn’t know why this environment was familiar to her. The mesmer once again made a new one and renewed the magical operation. When she arrived upstairs, she saw a tablet embedded in the wall of the tower.  
« Found the tablet. How'd you know it would be here ? »  
« Something Trahearne told me once. »  
_Trahearne had spoken to her ? When did she take that liberty ? Wait._  
Trahearne. Tablet. Orr.  
The sylvari began to understand. Fate couldn’t decently make fun of her.  
  
The first line was indeed ''Darkness pays Orr a visit.'' It was genuinely Trahearne's poem right there in front of her.  
« Okay, what does the last line of the poem say ? »  
The last line... _the last line ?! No, it couldn’t be possible._  
She slid her finger along the tablet and stopped it on the last line. She hesitated. She didn't want to know what Trahearne never knew. She wanted him to be there to find out with her. She read aloud. _Perhaps he would hear it ? (Thank to Caladbolg Solana…)_

« And I will chase it back to you. »  
Her heart stopped. _By the branches of the Pale Tree... That’s not true._  
« Wow. That changes the whole meaning... »  
The asura spoke, but all the sylvari wanted was silence « That's a legendary poem by an Orrian soldier. It was Trahearne's favorite. The final line was lost when the city sank. »  
She knew all this. _I know all that !_ But the meaning…

It was absolutely not a poem advocating war... It was a love poem.  
Tears rose in Raën's eyes. _A fucking love poem_. A poem about the beauty of feelings.  
From the beginning, without knowing the end, Trahearne had known. The most beautiful poem for Trahearne was about love and life. It wasn’t about a useless sacrifice in the name of a stupid cause. It was greater ! Much more majestic. Of an immeasurable sublime.  
_If only you could be there, to laugh and tell me you knew it. Amaze you with this prestigious and illustrious stanza._  
« I wish he could've seen this. »  
It came from the heart and nothing could stop it from going out. These few words rebounded and became an echo in the communicator and chaos. _I miss you so much. It’s unbearable._

« Yeah... me too. »  
Nostalgia invades her vocal chords. And for fear of revealing her pain, she pushed away melancholy and suffering behind a smile.  
« So that that confirms it, I guess. An echo of the charr invasion was ripped out of time. Wait till the Priory hears about this one, right ? »  
The genius tried to make the atmosphere more joyful -did she hear the Commander cry ?- but it was really the least of Raën's worries. She didn't care much about those Priory’s people who pretended to talk about the world without ever having experienced it. There was no need for a thesis on this poem or any analytical or theoretical text. There was no need to write about it ; there was to feel it.

Tears shone down her face. She also laughed between sobs. She made fun of her weakness. She was crying that existence. And the cries and laughter couldn't stop. They flowed and burst over and over.  
Below, the battle was repeated in its tireless loop.

  


**> (1332 A.E.) After the defeat of the Tyria’s and Elona’s free forces ; Thunderhead Keep.**

The battle is over. This is the end.  
While her body rolls, while debris fly, while crystals burst, the verses of this poem float in the midst of this chaos. Trahearne’s voice resonates, in her memory and in her failure, Raëndaxia also recites the poem. Her ribs crack like ice. The verses break like glass. The pain intensifies in her misfortune. Words are reinforced in their meaning.

If it's her last breath, then let it breathe love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > I don't own anything ; All the characters belong to ArenaNet except Raëndaxia (Original female sylvari Character).
> 
>   
> 


End file.
